Fire Reconstruction Inc.

Do not use unless you want you items to get broke or go missing. They don’t handle anything with care. Been a nightmare.

Everyone at Fire Reconstruction, Inc were so kind, caring and helpful in restoring my elderly parent's home after a water incident. They were prompt, friendly and so kind to them while they worked and finished ahead of schedule so they did not have to disrupt them for too many days. They communicated at every step of the way and was always available to answer any and all questions.

My home flooded in Harvey, and Fire Reconstruction was responsible for the rebuild. Fire Reconstruction included new outlets in my quote, as they were adamant that the City would necessitate their replacement, even though they had not been damaged or touched by the flood waters. I agreed, but on the condition that I only wanted the electrical work done that was necessary by code, and I wanted to be involved if the City requested any upgraded electrical. Fire Reconstruction then pulled the electrical permit and arranged preliminary inspection by the City; the inspection report stated that all NEW devices had to be upgraded to AFCI and tamper resistant, there was nothing about replacing existing devices. Fire Reconstruction proceeded to replace them anyway, and at the end of the project I was assessed an additional charge to upgrade the wiring to AFCI. When I spoke to the city supervisor, he clarified that the ONLY reason the wiring needed upgrading was that Fire Reconstruction had replaced the outlets; and as written in the inspection report, all NEW devices fall under current code. I was told that had they left them alone, they would have passed final inspection as-is. I brought this to the attention of Fire Reconstruction, and they claimed they replaced them because the city inspector told them they had to, even though this contradicted the permit inspection report. They could provide me nothing to show that it was in fact necessary to replace the outlets, only hearsay and pointing fingers at the City. Fire Reconstruction staff is not current on city code, at least as it pertains to electrical, and made assumptions that in the end cost me $3100. They continue to blame the city and the permitting process, instead of taking the time to research and understand what the code requirements are. Overall their work was good, albeit slow at times, but as my general contractor I am paying a premium for their expertise and knowledge of city codes and I came away from this project angry that they would not even acknowledge their error.

After the salesman left, we had one contractor that translated the instructions in Spanish to his subcontractors. He rarely followed up behind the workers, which resulted in a multitude of mistakes, delays, redos and complaints. After eight months of disappointing results and delays, we took over the 59 items from the repair list including all floors, Driveway, garage floor, bricks and back porch. Afterward, they refused to give us our portion of the insurance money for the work we paid for out of our pocket. It is over a year from the start of the estimated 6-month repair and we still have unresolved issues with this company. We had to hire 2 different inspectors to make sure the house was safe and they had pages of repairs that had to be redone. Most of our complaints were resolved eventually with countless hours, emails, complaints and finally the help of the insurance company. My wife and I were blessed to have flexible work and the ability to monitor their work and understand the mountain of complicated paperwork. I would hate for this company to take advantage of anyone else after having such a stressful event occur, so feel free to contact us for further details. If you decide to go with this company or you are in the middle of repairs, here are a few things to look for. * Have someone onsite to watch work being done. Watch for large gaps in the roofing and for proper framing before it is covered. * Watch for gaping hole on exterior * Take pictures of every plug, lighting and demand a similar quality. They make money if they downgrade the hardware, plugs, hinges, light fixtures, doors etc. *Research every 'work line item' if necessary and demand that bad subcontractor be removed. *Don’t forget to ask your insurance company's claim adjuster for help and update them for the slightest delay. * Have an independent inspector come in at 50% and 100% completion. * Do your accounting- several mistakes were made in their favor, so beware! The attached items is only about 1% of the total number of deficiencies outstanding that we have given up asking or afraid the repair would be worst than the current state. I have a mountain of evidence and videos and website coming soon showing the deceitful practices carried out by this group.

Last year, on CHRISTMAS, of all days, we came home to find that our almost brand new dishwasher had spent the last 7 days leaking water all through out our kitchen and our basically brand new hardwood flooring. Not exactly what you want to come home to during the holidays. Anyhow, after some initial insurance claim paperwork, we were given the name of Fire Reconstruction as a possible contractor to move forward with for our flooring replacement...and am I ever happy we did! I was 6 weeks away from giving birth to our second child and I really didn't have time to spare to get the work done. Once we had our adjuster come out and give us the lowdown on what needed to happen (about $33k worth of damage), we jumped over to Fire Reconstruction and they were helpful from start to finish, both the sales person, the home office and the project manager. We actually decided to not have wood flooring put back in, but instead went with a tile that looks like hardwood flooring. With 2 kiddos, 2 dogs and a pool out back (and the best bathroom to use is in the middle of the house)...wood just didn't seem like the best option any longer...and you know what? Almost no one even could tell the difference between our previous floors and our new tile floors. The selection of tile was great that was within our budget and the project managers were very helpful with the selection process. The work crew showed up on time each day and while it was a hassle just family-wise, we ended up living upstairs during the reno. We were without our kitchen for a couple weeks...though they made every effort to ease the issue and were able to keep our fridge plugged in the entire time, which was a great help! They had to take out the ENTIRE bottom floor of wood flooring (about 1500 sq ft), replace a large bottom cabinet and our island, along with all the baseboards throughout the bottom floor. They also had to rip out all of the wood and then re-level the floor. They use all their own crew (no sub-contractors), which was a big selling point for me. They also came in and helped to pack up the large items and stored it all off site (beds, cabinets, dressers, etc.) and then came back in and put it all back together for us. They also cleaned the home from top to bottom (a couple of times...I don't think my blinds have been cleaned since we moved in almost 3 years ago!! They looked great!), which was awesome, since again, I was super pregnant...the home looked fantastic after their crew left for the last time. All in all, the process took about 4.5 weeks and they were able to finish everything about 10 days before our newest little bundle was born. I couldn't be happier with the end result (and now am so very glad to have tile instead of wood...tho it was gorgeous...in our home). I actually let them handle connecting with the insurance company and dealing with receiving payment and paperwork. While our insurance company didn't recommend it, I didn't have one single problem with them. Britany in the main office was always very straight forward with me and very communicative. I found them to be a very trustworthy company. I would highly recommend them to anyone with insurance claims or are just in need of some remodeling needs.

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ire Reconstruction performed the work as agreed in the contract within a reasonable amount of time.  The subs who did the drywall repair and painting were punctual and did a good job.  The sub who cleaned and stretched the carpets was quite good.  We had some delays in getting the materials needed to replace the wood floor.  This resulted in a few problems in  keeping us informed when work would be delayed or the crew would not come as scheduled.  We had to do some rework around the floor trim but the supervisor was quite responsive and in the end all work was satisfactory.

The work looks lovely. My project manager was Iran Martinez. We were told the work would only take three or four days but it took almost three months. They were slow and late, but the works looks great. I would hire them again, but I would do it a lot differently than we did this time.

We were very, very pleased.  This company had professional, polite, prompt contractors who all did a beautiful job.  It seemed that each group of them "went the extra mile."  They came to the house almost immediately after the fire and made a detailed walk-through in the beginning, and again with the insurance adjuster.  They called or came by more than once to check on the job's progress.  Whenever we called with a question or concern, our calls were answered promptly and professionally.
We hope we never need this kind of work again but, if we do, this is the company we will call.  We have absolutely no hesitation in recommending them to anyone who needs reconstruction following fire or water damage.